Changing meta on GEMP

[gordie124]

So I've been playing casual games of Fellowship block on GEMP for the past two months, and it seems like in that time the meta-game has changed. Specifically, I rarely see Isengard shadow sides anymore, and Sauron shadow sides are a bit more frequent. I'm curious if anyone else has noted the same thing (maybe it's just coincidence as to who I happen to play against), and I'm wondering if those who've played for longer have noticed other trends over time.

I also wonder if there's a way for those on the backstage end of things to see statistics for what cards are more popular than others over time, either by looking at merchant prices or by number of appearances in decks that get played.

[bibfortuna25]

Nazgûl and Uruks seem to be the most popular Shadows, I think. Moria is next, then Sauron a distant 4th.

[-Enola-]

I often play my Isengard Orcs deck in FOTR (15 wins for 0 loss on gemp, right now), but like bib said the meta is set with these 2-3 main Shadows ... Moria Archery in 5th ?

[Cw0rk]

On fellowship sides, I tend to see a lot of pipes.

[sgtdraino]

I don't play Fellowship that often, but I have noticed changing trends in Expanded. I don't think it's the meta changing, so much as it is just shifts in what people are playing at the time. I think players see certain kinds of decks do well, so they copy those and play them. You see those get popular for a while, and then you see other players start playing things that counter those strategies. Those popular decks then do more poorly, and so players start playing something different.

[Air Power]

I don't play Fellowship that often, but I have noticed changing trends in Expanded. I don't think it's the meta changing, so much as it is just shifts in what people are playing at the time. I think players see certain kinds of decks do well, so they copy those and play them. You see those get popular for a while, and then you see other players start playing things that counter those strategies. Those popular decks then do more poorly, and so players start playing something different.

What you just described is what I think of as the meta, especially in a game with a closed card-set.

[sgtdraino]

True, but in a closed card-set, you wouldn't really expect it to change that much. Logically certain strategies would be determined to be the most powerful, and players would gravitate toward those. If the meta for lotr changes over time, that's a good sign, because it indicates a fairly balanced structure where no single strategy (or strategies) is undeniably the best.

[Cw0rk]

True, but in a closed card-set, you wouldn't really expect it to change that much. Logically certain strategies would be determined to be the most powerful, and players would gravitate toward those. If the meta for lotr changes over time, that's a good sign, because it indicates a fairly balanced structure where no single strategy (or strategies) is undeniably the best.

But the good thing with LOTR TCG is that it includes cards that can prevent that from happening. Cards like Such A Little Thing, A Blended Race, etc. would be used by everyone if a strategy becomes overplayed, thus making that strategy much weaker.

[Cw0rk]

I've been noticing that discard decks are quite popular at the moment.

[TheNinthPlayer]

I've seen literally only nazgul and troll swarm in my past twenty or so expanded games.
It's getting a little boring.

[Legion]

When I first saw this thread, I really thought that the idea of a changing meta was rubbish.  Everyone played Legolas and Arwen, pulling Aragorn with the Prancing Pony, normally with Uruks or Nazgul beatdown.  Even discard was a fun opponent as it was something different.  Now I'm not so sure.  After having a lot of success with my Moria Archery deck, probably playing everyone regularly online who lives in my timezone, I cannot help but notice that Moria Archery is now everywhere.  So too are Mithril coats and Shield of Boromir.  I even saw a deck with 3 Hosts of the Last Alliance!  Also Gandalf and Sleep Caradhras seems a lot more popular than it was, with fewer people relying on Secret Sentinels as condition discard.